00:00Let's bring in Rob Nye, founding partner of H-Tree Capital.
00:05Rob, this is such an interesting trial, but how significant or different is it to trials we've seen before against
00:13social media?
00:15I think the real sign is for the first time, this is the first time that Mark Zuckerberg has ever
00:19appeared before a jury.
00:20I think the fact TikTok and the others have settled ahead of the trial means this is really the big
00:24one, as they say,
00:25where this will have a real meaningful impact on the industry going forward, depending on how it ends.
00:30Just give us a sense of what's got to be proven here.
00:34My understanding is it's not just to prove that the content was quite addictive,
00:38but that actually the systems, the backroom workings of these platforms, the algorithms were designed to hook kids.
00:47No, look, I'm not a lawyer, but I think the real question is can they prove intent
00:51and can they prove these systems were designed to hook those underage and, frankly, adults, too?
00:55And I think from a computer science perspective, you're looking at a perfect problem
00:59in the sense of you created systems with instant feedback loops
01:02to create the most addicting mechanisms for engagement ever, frankly.
01:06So, yeah, I do think there's a lot of internal communication, internal talk just from the industry alone.
01:10You can tell that these are systems very well designed to take advantage of people's attention span
01:15and particularly with children who are more vulnerable.
01:17We know that TikTok and Snapchat were also accused they settled just before this trial opened.
01:24So it's Meta and Google who are answering.
01:27But could there be an indirect consequence for all social media platforms if it goes against Meta and Google?
01:36100%. I mean, I think with the precedent this sets, both on the civil and criminal side,
01:40I think you're going to see an industry-wide repercussion that the companies have never been really held responsible
01:44for algorithmic developments like this.
01:46And for the first time, there may be civil penalties, albeit like big tobacco.
01:50The civil penalties don't necessarily drive the companies out of business.
01:52They kick the can down the road and have a much more big settlement that's once and for all later.
01:57But I do think it also opens up different lines of attack in different countries
02:00as well as potentially on the regulatory front that it gives governments a very clear ability
02:03to then jump in and say this must be regulated the same way the tobacco industry got regulated years ago.
02:09What could all of this mean for the consumer, the one who sits on their phone and enjoys
02:15and goes through all these social media platforms?
02:18Should we prepare for the possibility of a very different product?
02:25I think it might change.
02:26I mean, right now, these are so addicting.
02:27You can go on them.
02:28I'm a grown man.
02:29I can go on TikTok and, you know, five minutes turns into 30 minutes if I'm not careful.
02:32It's just so addicting and so stimulating.
02:34Just sit back and watch.
02:35I think the same way, they're going to have to put some guardrails and encourage people to moderate.
02:39You know, the same way with food, you have portion control.
02:41I think there's going to have to be some sort of attention portion control.
02:44And likewise, with children and the underage, I think it's still a question of, you know,
02:48how much do you allow them to be exposed to or how engaging can it be?
02:51And there may be sort of dampening filters to make it slightly less engaging or have somewhat of a better
02:56filter.
02:56You know, Facebook has a long history, too, of adding things like filters
02:58and other things that were recommended against inside the company.
03:02And they went ahead and launched it for the sake of growth anyway.
03:04So, Mark, there's a lot of explaining to do, I think.
03:06Thank you so much.
03:07That's Rob Nye's founding partner of H3 Capital.
Comments